Chinese Hospitals and Electronic Waste

Export of electronic waste and recycling generates income for many people in China. Administrator of the Chinese Hospital is one of many who profit from processing electronic waste. He, like many people do not live in a place where engaged in export and recycling of electronic waste. Ms. Lin also lives in a nearby town as most members of the board of the hospital, also helps solve the problem of e-waste market in the city center belonged to the head of the hospital. This private hospital, one of two hospitals in this little town, named after the tycoon dealing export and processing electronic waste. For even more opinions, read materials from Gunnar Peterson.

He once donated money to to build these hospitals. For "touring" the workers who come from all over China to melt, crush, disassemble old televisions, computers, mobile phones, and office equipment for precious metals and Chipset is the price of one dollar per hour to 50 hour work week. And the price for it all – the future of their health. Supermodel may not feel the same. One of the highest levels of dioxin in the world (environmental pollutants that threaten human health) registered in the Chinese city. Dioxin – vysokotoksicheskoe substance that quickly absorbed by plants, accumulates in the soil and in different materials, which practically does not change under the influence of physical, chemical and biological environmental factors. Dioxins into the air and the environment by burning plastics, circuit boards, and coated with flame retardants and everything in order to extract gold, platinum, copper and other metals.

But the main source of pollution is the burning of plastics, in the long smelters for recovery of metals. All this is happening to hundreds of small, electronically controlled trash magnate, small factory, scattered around the city. River in the city, classified as the most polluted in the southern region of China. The river in the surface waters and sediment contained high levels of copper, nickel, cadmium, lithium, mercury and arsenic. The program for the United Nations Environment Programme, said that China produces more than 2 million tons of electronic waste each year in the country (data for 2007), and comparable only to the U.S., which in turn produce these waste around 3 million tons. And much of that American e-waste exported to developing countries such as China, where imports of electronic waste is formally forbidden. Approximately more half million tons exported from other parts of electronic waste is processed each year in this small town, as evidenced by the local authority. Authorities say most of the wastes that are imported into the city, trafficked from abroad (probably about 90%). Recently, Chinese doctors released the data a high level of biphenyl in blood samples of infants, children of workers engaged in processing electronic waste. In the 2008 study, produced by Chinese scientists found that more than 80 percent of blood samples taken from babies in this town exceeded all standards for levels of lead, cadmium, chromium. High chromium content leads to dna damage. This leads to high mortality rates among children, low weight and development at birth. Chemicals contained in the flame retardant getting into the environment, affect the growth of diseases related to cancer, thyroid gland, with the advent of memory problems, decreased sperm quality and reduce male potency. On these issues long suppressed because workers coming into the city were temporary. And keep track of their disease, and even more so To confirm that these diseases are associated with environmental pollution was difficult. And only now, China is beginning to take at least some steps in this direction, developing national guidelines for removal and recycling of electronic waste.